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Saturday, June 28, 2008

In our fourth FOCUS ON HIM devotional, let’s look at God as OUR LEADER. Besides His familiar promises in Psalm 23 to lead us beside still waters and in paths of righteousness, God promised to guide us with peace.“For you shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace…” Isaiah 55:12. That is one of my favorite promises. I suspect that the still waters are a symbol of the peace that the Prince of Peace puts in our hearts.

If you are confused about which path to take, stand still until you experience peace. Think over the possibilities that lie ahead with each alternative choice. And listen with your heart. The very God of Peace will connect you with His will and lead you in the right path. You can count on it!

One day I was on my way to the grocery for Thanksgiving supplies, and had a sudden urge to go by the library. It made no sense. I didn’t want anything from the library and I had a lot of preparation left for the family dinner. But I asked the Lord what He wanted me to do. I didn’t hear a voice, inner or outer, but I knew that if I didn’t go by the library my heart would be in turmoil. As soon as I made the decision, peace flooded me.I wandered around the shelves for a few minutes, wondering why I was there, feeling a bit silly.

“Amy, is that you?” A man in his seventies who’d attended some of my Bible studies peered around a corner. After I smiled at him, he continued. “Can I talk to you?” We found two chairs in a quiet corner and he began to tell me that he’d experienced seasonal depression since he was a child. Through tears, he told me that year was the worst ever and he’d even thought about suicide. We talked a while about God’s love for him and then I prayed for him and against depression. We said goodbye and I went on to the grocery.

That was several years ago and he has never experienced seasonal depression again, and in fact is happier year round than ever before.

The Lord led me in a right path in order to minister to that beloved child of His through this part of His Body in the earth. He did it by leading me forth in peace - and I went out with joy!

“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them. And they follow me.” John 10:27

Monday, June 16, 2008

This is the third in our “Focus On Him” devotional series. In the first we looked at what is meant by Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee, for he trusteth in thee.Isaiah 26:3Peace – Shalom in the Hebrew– means wholeness. connectedness with God . nothing missing, nothing broken. When we keep our mind focused on God, He is able to keep us in perfect peace, make us perfectly whole.

Last week we focused on God as Father, the One who gave us new life and wants to give us everything else. Our heavenly Abba, Daddy of our new creation lives, sees us as beloved children. We need to study the life of Jesus as written in the Gospels for our understanding of God because He said “If you have seen me, you have seen the Father.”John 13:9

This week we are focusing on God as Savior. The very name Jesus means ‘the Salvation of Jehovah’. Christ means ‘the anointed'. Jesus Christ is the salvation available from the Father, the One anointed to bring salvation to mankind. We are told in Isaiah 59:16 "His own arm worked salvation for Him."

Jesus, the arm of God to bring salvation to you, bore the punishment of our sins on the cross of Calvary but He did much more than that. He bore the sins themselves. I like to think of Him taking that sin nature into Himself like a magnet. He has done the job but when I release the sins instead of clinging on to them, they fly to the cross and leave me, so I can walk as the new creation child of God that I am.

The word salvation is ‘soteria’ in the Greek and literally means, according to Strong’s Greek Dictionary, ‘material and temporal deliverance from danger and apprehension’ ‘spiritual and eternal deliverance” “present experience of God’s power to deliver from the bondage of sin”,” maintenance of peace and harmony”.

We often think of salvation or the answer to the question “Are you saved?” in terms of going to heaven instead of hell when we die. But as you can see from the above definitions, that is only one aspect of what God has made available to you in salvation.

One of my favorite Old Testament Stories is in II Chronicles, Chapter 20. Three armies have come against Israel, and King Jehoshaphat seeks the Lord, freely admitting that they have no power against their enemies. After studying the names of those enemy armies, I realized that they represent our genetic heritage, our cultural environment, and the forces of the devil. God’s people are told“You will not need to fight. Stand still and see the salvation of the Lord.” Instead of fighting, they appointed singers who went out in front of their army. What they sang was “Praise the Lord, for His mercy endures forever.” When they focused on the mercy of God, He caused their enemies to defeat each other and Israel prospered from the situation.

How we need to learn that lesson! We wear ourselves out trying to fight evil, within and without. But all the time God has made provision for every deliverance from danger and fear - physically, in the present, and spiritually, forever. He bore your sicknesses and diseases on the cross as well as your sins. When we release those, they too can fly to the cross and leave us to walk in newness of life. “If the Spirit that raised Christ from the dead lives in you, He will give life to your mortal body.”Romans 8:11.

Paul tells us that the weapons of our warfare are not physical but spiritual. We fight by casting down from our mind every thought that would go against the knowledge of God as revealed through Jesus Christ, the Savior, who is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

Praise Him for His aways available, always present mercy as He saves you from all danger - spirit, soul, and body.He keeps us in perfect peace and harmony when we focus on Him as Savior, here and now.

Monday, June 9, 2008

If you have been born again from the Spirit of God by receiving Jesus Christ as your Savior, you are a child of God.

The Creator of the Universe is your Father. Paul tells us that we are not to be afraid of Him but to recognize that He is our Abba, our Daddy. (Romans 8:15; Galatians 4:6)

Once I wrote a humorous spiritual autobiography which I entitled “And God Just Shakes His Head.” It was after I completed it that I realized my picture of God was derived from my own father who often shook his head in disgust at my behavior.

Unfortunately that is usually the case with most of us. Our concept of God is distorted by the relationships we had with our earthly father. Some of you may have been blessed with a wonderful, nurturing, loving, accepting earthly Daddy. Some of you may have been, as I was, blessed with a loving but demanding Daddy. And some of you may have had an abusive and cruel father – or an absent non-caring father. The type of father you had will influence your perception of your heavenly Father.

We need to all remember that God is the Perfect Father, better than the best Daddy anyone ever had in this earth – loving, forgiving, giving – the one who delights in you just as you are.

He gave you life, He gave His life for you, He fills you with Himself, He never leaves you, He forgives you for every infraction of His rules, He provides for all your physical needs, He provides all the education and training you will allow Him to give. He gives you everything He has as a free gift.

No matter how old you are, He sees you as His little child and loves you very much.

This winter while my husband was in VA hospital there was an older man in the same room who was in a lot of discomfort and had not been able to sleep for days. He said, “I just want to die. And I want to go home. Why stay here to die when I'm so uncomfortable?” The Spirit of the Lord rose up within me and I rushed to his bedside and put my arms around him and asked if I could pray. I already knew he was a Christian and not surprised when he said yes. The Lord had me pray “Father, remind Charlie that you are the Daddy that loves him, that no matter how old he is, you see him as your little boy. Lord, Your Spirit is the Comforter and we ask You to comfort him physically as well as emotionally.” Charlie later told his family “Peace immediately flooded me.” All we knew was that he slept pretty constantly for the next two days. Charlie got to go home for a while before he ended up back in the hospital, and we were able to visit him there three days before he ran into the arms of his heavenly Daddy to live in comfort and joy forever.

When you wake up on Father’s Day this year, before you do anything else, FOCUS ON HIM, the one who sees you as His beloved little child, and say aloud “Happy Father’s Day” to your heavenly Daddy. In fact, it’s not a bad idea to do that every morning. For He is your Daddy who loves you every day, now and forever.

Monday, June 2, 2008

Last year I put together a little meditation guide entitled FOCUS ON HIM. The Lord inspired it and has used it to change my life and bring me through some very difficult times. Those who joined me in using it daily have also experienced spiritual growth and comfort. We’re going to talk about those principles here over the next several weeks, and I invite all readers to share their own insights by posting a comment. Before we begin looking at the different aspects of Himself, I want us to look and comment on the scripture verse that inspired me to write it.

Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee,for he trusteth in thee.Isaiah 26:3

I believe that Word of promise from God through the prophet Isaiah. When we fix our mind on God, we are looking to Him instead of the world, others, or ourselves for the answers we need in this life. And He will keep or protect us in perfect peace.

The Hebrew word for peace is Shalom. Shalom means connectedness with God, wholeness, completeness, health, prosperity, success. A Hebrew scholar once said the best definition of Shalom is “nothing missing, nothing broken.” When we focus on Him, He keeps us connected to Him and makes us whole and complete in every area of life. No wonder the apostle Paul opened and closed most of his letters with “Grace and Peace unto you.”

God’s undeserved favor and wholeness in every area is given to you as a free gift. Focus on Him! If you click on the comments, you will see where I've added an exerpt from and a recommendation of Lynn Zuk-Lloyd's new release "Awaken Me: Crying out for more of the Lord.". You can purchase it by going to the link on this page Promise Garden. For some reason, possibly because I'm very new at this, my comment showed up as from Anonymous. But it was me !

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About Me

Hi, I'm Amy Barkman. I've been the Director of Voice of Joy Ministries since 1979, a member of the American Association of Christian Counselors since 1989, and the pastor of Mortonsville United Methodist Church in Central Kentucky since 1998.

I'm happily married - we recently celebrated our 30th anniversary. Between the two of us, we have five wonderful daughters and thirteen grandchildren and one great-grandchild.

Besides holding workshops, retreats, and private prayer appointments, I hope I can serve through this website.

I'll be looking forward to meeting you and discovering the Lord's love for you, just as if we were sitting in my parlour with Him.